BOSTON – Boston Medical Center, a 639-bed teaching hospital in Boston's South End, announced a layoff of 119 employees on Monday and said it would likely lose approximately $175 million this year.
The move was not unexpected, said Tom Traylor, BMC's vice president of federal, state and local programs. He said the medical center would lose the income due to dramatic changes in federal Medicaid reimbursements, and that hospital staff expected the force reduction.
"We have been talking to the staff about this new reality for well over a year, and have been working to assess and increase efficiency in every corner of the hospital," Traylor said. "We have been consulting with outside experts to study the efficiency of delivery of patient care, and they found very little excess capacity, particularly in terms of hospital staffing levels. This layoff is one necessary element of addressing the hospital's financial situation."
The layoffs are effective Oct. 1 and include 44 registered nurses, 30 management staff, 4 LPNs and a variety of administrative positions. Another 40 employees will see their hours reduced.
The hospital has a total workforce of almost 6,000 people, more than 1,500 of whom are nurses. The union representing many of the workers, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, said the cuts would have an impact on a "wide swath of services," including nursing, patient access coordinators, dieticians and clinical engineers.
Veronica Turner, executive vice president of 1199 SEIU and a former Boston Medical Center employee, rejected the hospital's claims that the layoffs were intended to increase efficiency. She said the hospital is among the most efficient in Massachusetts.
"Patient care access is suffering because the state has failed to provide fair reimbursement for care and its management is not effectively communicating with staff about a plan for the hospital's future," Turner said. "In order to save the hospital, the state must present a solution to the funding crisis and BMC management must include its staff in forming a real plan for the hospital's future. The hospital can't simply cut its way out of the current funding inequities."
BMC is the largest safety net hospital in New England and the primary teaching affiliate for the Boston University School of Medicine. The medical center is also a founding partner of Boston HealthNet, a network of 15 community health centers throughout metropolitan Boston.
